View full sizeThe Rev. James McGonegal at his arraignment hearing in October.Marvin Fong, PD file

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The chief prosecutor for the Cleveland Metroparks has asked that the Rev. James McGonegal be denied entry into an alternative sentencing program on charges of soliciting sex from an undercover ranger at Edgewater Park last October.

Attorney Anne Eisenhower said the Metroparks’ investigation determined that McGonegal, 69, “regularly engaged in the activity that is the subject of these charges.” That should make the priest ineligible for a plea bargain that would include diversion, she said in a letter sent to prosecutors last month.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court’s electronic data base contains no record of a prior criminal arrest record for McGonegal. The priest’s 2013 criminal case file, however, contains a law enforcement document that lists a May 15, 1986, arrest of McGonegal by Cleveland police charging him with promoting prostitution and soliciting prostitution. There are no further details.

The court record indicates that McGonegal was given an alternative sentence that allowed him to be released on the promoting prostitution charge, and the soliciting charge to be dropped. In 2004, it appears McGonegal had his arrest record expunged, according to the document.

Eisenhower did not return a call seeking comment.

Judge Stuart Friedman said Eisenhower has no legal standing in his courtroom, and defense attorney Henry Hilow said she should have no say in McGonegal’s punishment.

“I don’t know why she picked this case to get involved in,” Hilow said. “We’re working with the Cuyahoga County prosecutor’s office and we’re hoping to resolve it.”

Prosecutor’s spokesman Joe Frolik said pretrial negotiations involve McGonegal’s eligibility for an early intervention program – not diversion. Under that plan, McGonegal would plead guilty to some or all of the pending criminal charges. After he completed treatment for a rehabilitation program, the case would be dismissed and his record expunged, Frolik said.

A diversion program is typically an option in cases involving financial crimes in which a defendant avoids prison by pleading guilty, completing probation and making restitution, after which the charges are dropped and the arrest record is sealed.

McGonegal, the former pastor of St. Ignatius of Antioch parish on Cleveland’s West Side, was admitted as a patient at a residential treatment facility for priests in January. The program at the St. Luke Institute in Silver Spring, Md., usually requires a stay of from five to six months, according to the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland.

The Rev. Michael Troha has replaced McGonegal as pastor.

McGonegal was arrested on Oct. 11 after he propositioned an undercover ranger at Edgewater Park, offered him $50 for sex and exposed himself.

A grand jury returned a three-count indictment charging McGonegal with soliciting sex – a third-degree felony because he is HIV-positive and failed to tell that to the ranger. He also was charged with abusing harmful intoxicants and public indecency, both misdemeanors.

In reaction to the case, a spokesman for SNAP – the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, a support group for clergy abuse victims – applauded the county prosecutor’s stance in the case.

“Citizens are safest when predators are locked up,” said David Clohessy of SNAP. “We also oppose expunging this cleric's record once his sentence is over. People can protect themselves and their loved ones when they have more information, not less, about sex offenders.”

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